Libraboy

COMPARATIVE IN VITRO ANTHELMINTIC ACTIVITY OF THREE PLANTS FROM THE AMARANTHACEAE FAMILY ASHOK KUMAR, B.S1*, LAKSHMAN, K2., JAYAVEERA, K.N3., NANDEESH, R4., MANOJ, B1. and RANGANAYAKULU, D5. Department of Pharmacognosy, Sri K.V.College of Pharmacy, 562101 Chickballapur, Karnataka (India). 2 Department of Pharmacognosy, PES College of Pharmacy, 560002 Bangalore, Karnataka, (India). 3 Department of Chemistry, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University of College of Engineering, 515005 Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh (India). 4 Department of Pharmacognosy, Sree Siddhaganga College of Pharmacy, 561202 Tumkur, Karnataka (India). 5 Department of Pharmacology, Sri Padmavathi School of Pharmacy, 501517 Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka (India). Abstract – The three plants presented in this study are Amaranthus spinosus, Amaranthus caudatus and Amaranthus viridis L. They belong to the Amaranthaceae family and are traditionally used as vermicides. Our aim was to investigate the anthelmintic activity of the three plants using earthworms (Pheretima posthuma). Methanol extracts of the three plants at different concentrations (10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 mg/ml) showed dose-dependent vermicidal activities. At concentrations of 80 and 100 mg/ml all three plant extracts caused paralysis (8.18, 5, 12.16, 5.75, 10.2, 7.8 min) and death (14.65, 9.12, 18.6, 8.5, 18.6, 12.7 min), respectively. Piperazine was used as a reference standard at a concentration of 10 mg/ml. Our study found that the three plants possess potent anthelmintic activity when compared to Piperazine. Keywords: Amaranthus spinosus, Amaranthus caudatus, Amaranthus viridis, anthelmintic activity, Piperazine. 1

UDC 582.929:615.321.33

INTRODUCTION The World Health Organization estimates that a staggering two billion people harbor parasitic worm infections. Parasitic worms also infect livestock and crops, affecting food production with a...